The musings, opinions, thoughts, and complaints of a political minded Canadian citizen.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

General Posting

I've been thinking about what to talk about over the past couple of days, but it seems to me for the most part that things are remaining mostly the same in this country.

The Conservatives are acting quickly to implement parts of the budget, such as the removal of Federal oversight over a lot of environmental projects. They continue to deny involvement in the Robocall Scandal, even though most mainstream media is reporting that Elections Canada is now directly investigating the Conservatives and datalogs regarding access to CIMS (the Conservatives' electoral database system) have been deleted.

They continue to insist the low-ball estimate on the F-35s is still an accounting error, and Peter Mackay remains in cabinet with no consequences. Garry Ritz suggests that cutting costs to food inspectors will not negatively impact food safety, despite the union representing such workers saying the opposition...Not to mention the fact that Canada just barely exited a recall of over one hundred meat products due to E-Coli infection.

For the bulk of my life, I have rejected claims that I am an alarmist when it comes to politics. I've been told constantly that from one party to the next, our country will never really change. But I am genuinely concerned with the state of our nation.

We have a government that we cannot trust, who is doing irreparable harm to our nation and our institutions. We have a government that may not actually be legitimate or legally elected. And we have a government that consistently and unabashedly continues to lie, mislead, and deceive the people they are supposed to serve. We do not have a government that serves the people of Canada, we have a government that serves the Conservative Party, and only the party.

What irks me is that people on the right are quick to condemn us left-wingers as 'extremists' and 'authoritarians'; but it is their party that is slowly making loyalty to the party more important than loyalty to the state.

I don't even know what to say anymore.

I had thought that we as a nation would not sit by and allow the things that we are proud of in our national identity to be quietly eroded and stripped away. I had always believed that we as Canadians were a sleeping giant; that we had a codified view of right and wrong, and that we would not tolerate those who act in our name being on the wrong side of things.

And more importantly, that we wouldn't sit idle as our nation's very identity was redefined by those with a very narrow and dim view.

For the first time in my life, I don't know what to believe any more.

This is not our government. This is not our nation. The Canada I grew up in is slipping away. The joke growing up was that Canadian national identity was defined by the fact that we were not American. Thanks to Harper and team, that is not a joke we can tell anymore.

This government is abandoning our principles, and soon we are going to look around and wonder just where the hell our country went.

I posted a few months ago about Canadians finding their anger, and it seems that we still haven't found it. Anger does not mean protesting, or open revolution, it means being engaged and getting a message across to our representatives that we do not approve of the direction they are taking this country.

And not only that, but that we do not believe that this government was indeed the chosen government of the people of this nation.

There can be no doubt: Our election was stolen. Our "government" is lying to us on a daily basis; not only in terms of their legitimacy, but also for their ability to act in an open and transparent matter.

And I'm starting to feel like the madman on the street with the sandwich board, proclaiming that the End Is Neigh...Surely, I am not the only person concerned with what is happening in our country. But it is starting to feel that way; with the exception of numerous other bloggers continue to call this "government" to account.

But this is not a battle that can be won by the discordant voices of the few who speak out; rather, to achieve progress we must come together and work together to demand better. Our country is not yet fully broken, but the Conservatives are indeed bending it with every last ounce of strength they have.

As such, I encourage everyone to do what they can to let this 'government' know that these are issues that are not going to go away and that Canadians will not take this sitting down. Write letters to your local MPs, especially your Conservative ones. Promote these issues on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites. Join rallies in your local area, provided they are peaceful ones.

This is a 'government' that has promised accountability at every turn; and it seems unless we all demand it in a clear and loud voice, it's one election promise that they're all too happy to break.